Meeting Overview: December 22, 2006

Here is a summary of the meeting that was held at the Bagel Stop/Book Nook at 11:00 AM on Friday, December 22, 2006.

1. Our World Stories – Remember that there is about one week left until the two 1,000 word stories that take place in Our World are due. Post them on your blog with “Our World” somewhere in the title by January 1st, 2007. To help accomplish the goal of 1,000 words, keep the story short and simple. Do not make it too complicated with complex characters and plots. Stay focused on a central idea and character and create stereotypical side characters. By the end of this school year, we plan to combine our Our World stories into our final “published” book and name Our World. These short stories will help form Our World and give it a more structured base. Afterwards, we can begin to mix different stories and characters from different authors.

2. Awards – There is a rough idea right now that at the end of the school year we shall give out an award to the best story on Magic Pens. This award has been “gifted” with the name “The Tandy Award.”

3. Hoodies – For the T-Shirt idea, we have finalized the idea of hoodies with Matt’s ThermoNuclear Warhead idea (with the correct form of “than”) on the front in a small pocket-size and my Objects Behind the Scroll idea in a large size on the back. We are currently deciding a color for the hoodies. Neon green, yellow, gray, and white were brought up at the meeting. Basically we want a soft color for the black artwork to show up on. Prepay for your hoodie by the end of January as soon as Mr. Gifford receives more information on pricing and such.

4. Plot of the Month – Tim Olson has proposed the Plot of the Month idea at our meeting. Every month Mr. Gifford will post a new plot that takes place in Our World on his blog. The idea is to post a story on your blog with “Plot of the Month” somewhere in the title that is writing about the plot from a certain characters point of view. Many characters will be there, meaning there will be many different points of view on the same topic. For an example, we mentioned something happens in a Superman story. You can write in the villain’s, Superman’s, Lois Lane’s, an innocent bystander’s point of view, etc. Plot of the Month will start January of 2007.

5. Matt’s Google Page – Matt is still accepting requests for permission to edit his Google Page. E-mail him stating a color that has not already been chosen for your words to show up in. Check Matt’s Google Page often for information on Our World. When you write an Our World story, please put Our World somewhere in the title so Matt will know it takes place in Our World and can add any information given in your story on his page.

6. Goals – Remember to maintain your goals. Write for 15 minutes every day and post all of your ideas. Continue to post your Sunday Check-Ups and remember to post your two 1,000 word Our World stories by January 1st. For all who are wondering, Mr. Gifford has announced that his two Our World stories will appear on his blog shortly. As Mr. Gifford said, many people feel alone when they check their blogs and find no new comments. Try to read at least one of everyone’s posts often and comment when you read them. Good things to comment on are mistakes that you have found, what you liked, what you didn’t like, future ideas, suggestions, what they should try, what they should work on, etc. Mr. Gifford has stated that you do not have to read his blog, (although you should try to.)

7. Magic Pens Officers – Our Magic Pens Officers election has taken place and the results are in! The runners were Jared Wilson, Branson Ruble, Randall Roberts, Erik Hobbs, and Noelle Brooks. Due to Branson and Erik’s lack of contribution, they did not receive a seat at office, leaving Randall Roberts, Noelle Brooks, and Jared Wilson for the three positions. Here are the results after the voting took place.

• President: Randall Roberts
• Vice President: Noelle Brooks
• Secretary/Coffee Fetcher: Jared Wilson

Future officer-only meetings are to take place. Officers should set good examples by posting often, keeping up with goals, reading other people’s posts, attending meetings, and not disappearing for long periods of time as some Magic Pens members often do.

8. Our World – A lot of Our World information was exchanged along with basic “rules” for the different mythical creatures and species. (I have a full page of notes to write out.)

Dragons: It is still currently being decided whether or not dragons should be beasts or intelligent beings. Possible origins for how the dragons came to Our World were discussed. Did dragons mutate from lizards such as Godzilla or mutate from humans such as the Hulk? A favorite right now is that the dragons had left Earth before and were currently staying on another moon, planet, etc. When the Qurks attacked Our World, they created a “magnet” for mythical creatures drawing the dragons back to Earth along with all of the other creatures, (unicorns, gryphons, etc.) Be aware that due to their immense size and diet, there are not as many dragons as there are humans. Dragons do speak their own language, although some know human speech as a second tongue. It is still under discussion whether or not they speak physically or mentally. There are different variations for the dragon race. The three main species are the Chinese that tend to be longer with no wings and sometimes many legs, the Wyvrens who have two back legs, a set of wings, and no forearms, and the most common, European/Western dragon who has two forearms, two back legs, and a set of wings. Feel free to twist these different variations. (I plan to.)

Dwarves: Dwarves are of course shorter than a human and are better at mining. The dwarves in Our World will be most like the dwarves from Dungeons & Dragons. They will be sturdy, mine for coal and other minerals, have a high resistance to heat, and will carry no axes with them. Matt stated that hammers are a lot more powerful than axes especially when sharpened to a point at the end. He gave the idea that the dwarves use their hammers to penetrate armor and help with their mining.

Elves: Matt has stated, “Elves were engineered by humans to be free-loving.” They should be medieval-like who know about technology, yet do not like to use it. Instead they have chosen to retreat to the forests of the world and send small groups out to travel. They have heightened senses with pointed ears, eyes that see spectrums, and actively use their entire brains. They are human-sized if not a bit taller, and have longer life spans than humans. They do not live forever however.

Faeries: In Our World, faeries have changed their size to accommodate their need for food. As Matt said, “A watermelon would feed an entire family, no village of faeries for a week!” Standing at about three inches tall, faeries are able to go within the circuits of technological things to make their technology perfect. They have genetically mutated themselves to their size meaning some will be smaller, and some will be larger. Three inches is the average faerie height in Our World. Our faeries will have wings and will also be capable of weapons such as the blast pistol. These weapons will not deal as much damage due to their small size, so the faeries will make deals with other races. They will offer their high technology for the protection from others.

Merfolk: In Our World, Matt stated that merfolk will be like the Zora from the Zelda series. They will be fish-like creatures with extra fins, lungs, gills, two legs, flipper like feet, and can function on both land on water, however they would prefer to be in the water. You can also relate them to the creature Harry Potter transformed into in the fourth movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Minotaurs: Not much information was given about minotaurs. Whether or not they should be savage beasts or somewhat intelligent beings is still being discussed. Most likely, they will be wild beasts. An idea has been given that they are modified humans.

Vampires/Undead: We did not go into detail for vampires and the undead as we are still awaiting Shaundra’s input on this topic. It was said that the undead have come from the magic in our world. It was discussed that vampires are creatures of the night that should be feared. Are they mutated bats or mutated humans? Not much is known yet.

Qurks/Aliens: Aliens are basically whatever you feel like creating, although Matt suggests that you try to use a race that has already been created so there won’t be too many species floating around. It would make it very difficult for him to try to collect data on too many species.

Other Creatures: Any other creatures that were not listed were spoken to be mostly wild creatures with little to no intelligence. It was said that most of these creatures have been in “hibernation” until the Qurks attacked. There are still some current creatures in Our World such as horses.

Other topics were brushed upon at the meeting. The basics of Our World are finally coming together. Once again I shall state that for full information on Our World, check out Matt’s Google Page.

Nanites: There was some discussion dealing with the human discovery of nanites. It was said that we could create living and non-living metal with them and that some people have harvested the power of plasma to use small amounts of atomic power to power larger creations.

Magic: Magic is definitely a big topic regarding Our World. At our meeting, it was said that magic is an “aurora” around every living creature. Whether or not they can use the magic from their aurora depends on whether or not they have the “Sight.” Magic drains energy when used, and it can “interact” with other auroras. Some people can see the “magic auroras” while most cannot. Some people in Our World can be paranoid of the magic, while the government is trying to keep it under control. Whenever they see that one being is getting a little out of hand, they deal with the situation. The government tries to make sure that it doesn’t get to powerful. Matt mentioned something about powerful rituals being able to restore magical abilities.

New Locations: Feel free to create new cities and places within Our World, as long as you give information for Matt to place on his Google Page. Many different places were brought up at our meeting. Scroll City is a place to research and study technology and magic. This city is said to be immensely powerful with high-tech machinery yet prefer to be peaceful. Atlantis was said to be under a large bubble, New York in ruins, and Petra is still standing as it is carved into the mountains.

Technology: Some places are still full-tech with computers and such, while others are not so technological. Some species have more technology such as the faeries. Basically, you can create just about any technology.

Well, this is what I got from my notes at the meeting. If there are any mistakes, especially on the Our World stuff, please inform me.